Belem Declaration to Save Amazon, Get Complete Details

Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) members – Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela – signed a joint declaration or Belem Declaration in Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon River, laying out a nearly 10,000-word roadmap to promote sustainable development, end deforestation and fight the organised crime that fuels it.

This is the first summit in 14 years for the eight-nation group, set up in 1995 by the South American countries that share the Amazon basin. The summit is also being seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2025 United Nations climate talks, which Belem will host.

About Amazon Rain Forest/ Amazon River Basin

• Called the Lungs of Earth, the Amazon Rain Forest spans 6.7 million km2 (twice the size of India).
• It is home to the largest rainforest on Earth. The basin -- roughly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States -- covers some 40 percent of the South American continent and includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname, as well as French Guiana, a department of France.
• The basin is drained by the Amazon River, the world's largest river in terms of discharge, and the second longest river in the world after the Nile. 

Key facts about South America

• South America, fourth largest of the world’s continents. It is the southern portion of the landmass generally referred to as the New World, the Western Hemisphere, or simply the Americas. 
• The continent is compact and roughly triangular in shape, being broad in the north and tapering to a point—Cape Horn, Chile—in the south.
• South America is bounded by the Caribbean Sea to the northwest and north, the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast, east, and southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. 
• In the northwest it is joined to North America by the Isthmus of Panama, a land bridge. 
• Andes are the world’s longest continental mountain range, stretching from north to south on the western side of South America.
• Mt Aconcagua is the highest peak of the Andes.
• Mt. Cotopaxy lies in this continent which is the highest active volcano of the world.
• The highest navigable lake i.e. Lake Titicaca (on the border of Bolivia and Peru) is situated on the Bolivian plateau.
• The Angels Fall is the highest waterfall in the world situated on the plateau of Guyana.
• Chuquicamata plateau of Chile is famous for the production of copper. It is known as the ‘Copper Capital of the world’.
• Main Deserts are: Patagonia Desert, Atacama Desert, La Tatacoa Desert.
• Large coffee plantations in Brazil are called Fazenda.